Coming Out
by etain anders
Summary: "...the recently deceased President Luthor has left his fortune, in entirety, to his only biological child, Julian Luthor, the teen hero named Superboy."


San Francisco, Titans Tower, news room. 

"... Breaking news this morning. I think anyone with sense has been expecting some revelations since the shocking death of President Luthor five days ago, whose secrecy was notorious, wouldn't you say Charles?"

"Oh definitely, Erica, definitely. But it's not—I don't believe anyone expected one at the reading of his will. It was well known that President Luthor had never had children, so it was thought he would be leaving his personal fortune to charity, likely the Luthor Heart Foundation, or a political cause. But this—well, this is—this comes as a definite shock. Definitely."

"Right, Charles. But, moving along now..."

"Oh, yes, yes of course. Um, here, here's the segment from the announcement this morning."

A balding, sharp-featured man in a sober suit costing more than the average American's car stood on the steps outside of the LexCorp South Tower. The name on the screen read Abdul Hamshari, Attorney, Watham & Latkins, LLP. "...the recently deceased President Luthor has left his fortune, in entirety, to his only biological child, Julian Luthor, the teen hero named Superboy. The boy was admittedly, ah, conceived in rather unusual circumstances, namely in Cadmus labs, but he is legally President Luthor's son, and the late President held a great deal of affection for the young man. He wished to have a greater presence in the boy's life, but was... dissuaded by others who believed Superman would react badly. The hearings will be held at—"

The picture abruptly froze as a green-gloved finger hit the pause button. "Shit."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kon stumbled into the Titan's kitchen, blinking and clutching his giant mug (Bart's gift for him after a mission as Impulse—the speedster went to alternate worlds, and forgot to so much as take pictures, but he brought back souvenirs from _Texas_) and headed straight for the Espresso 5000. He shoved his mug under the spout and pressed random buttons until he heard the hiss of the cup filling up. He was dimly aware of noise from the television in the background, and a surprising lack of voices.

The spout closed automatically one the cup was filled to within an inch of the brim—too many mornings of coming in to slip on the coffee Kon had spilled on the floor by failing to notice when it was full, and Cyborg had taken the thing apart, fixing it to be Super-Sleepy-Kryptonian-proof. Kon poured the steaming coffee straight down his throat (thank Cadmus for invulnerability) and stuck the mug back under for more. When his cup was full again, he tromped across the kitchen and slumped down into a chair, blinking blearily at the table and inhaling fumes, waiting for the caffeine to kick in.

Someone coughed. There was the suppressed rustling of people who are trying not to fidget and failing miserably. Eventually the combination of potent espresso and thousand-ton gazes penetrated Kon's sleep-hazed brain, and he looked up. Everyone else immediately looked away. Well, everyone but Gar.

"What?" Kon asked, through a mouthful of coffee.

Gar looked twitchy and made several quick shifts (raccoon-otter-iguana) before snapping back to himself and blurting out "Dude. Are you seriously Luthor's kid?"

Kon choked.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tim stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame, looking at the blanket covered lump on Kon's bed. "You're hiding under the covers."

A fold in the blanket opened large enough to spit out, "Dude, I'd be hiding under the _bed_ if I thought I'd fit."

The corner of Tim's mouth twitched. "I thought you'd be in Hawaii by now. Or on the moon."

"I don't have enough concentration to fly and not crash right now. Besides, I figured Superman's less likely to kill me in front of a bunch of impressionable young heroes."

"Superman's not going to kill you."

"Oh, ya know what, you're right—he'll get _Batman_ to do it!"

Tim rolled his eyes. "I promise I'll protect you from Batman."

Kon snorted.

"Is he hiding under the blankets?" Bart asked, appearing next to Tim.

"Go _awayyy!"_

Bart looked from Kon to Tim and back. "So... did you inherit being a drama queen from from Supes or Luthor? 'Cause I've always thought his whole 'evil scientist' shtick every time he's caught next to a krypto-ray or whatever is a bit—"

Kon shot up in bed, throwing off the covers. "AAUGH! Fine! I'm up! See? Not hiding anymore or whatever so just get out and leave me alone already!"

Tim smirked slightly. "I think I'll leave this to you." He left almost normally, for him—only somewhat disappearing into the all-consuming shadows.

"Batman's probably calling."

"Probably."

After a long pause Kon asked, "Why aren't you freaking out or anything?"

Bart raised an eyebrow. "What, you mean that one of my best friends was carrying around this giant secret that was making him really upset and he never told me because didn't think he could trust me with it?" Bart shrugged. "Nah. Subjective time, man. I'm over it like that," he finished, snapping his fingers once.

Kon slumped down onto the bed. "It's not that I didn't trust you man. I just... you wouldn't get it."

Bart rolled his eyes. "Right. 'Cause having an evil clone? Nothing _I'd_ understand."

Kon stopped, mouth open.

Bart politely informed him he looked like a guppy.

Kon scowled and stood up. "Shut up. Dude, you don't— I mean, I can't—" he floundered, waving his hands. "Just— Hello! Luthor genes!" he finished, gesturing to himself.

Bart bounced up off the bed and into Kon's face. "Hello—Thawyne genes?"

Kon spluttered and began to protest, but Bart talked right over him. "You're being incredibly stupid, you know. Practically everyone in this business has an evil relative or mentor or whatever."

"Superman doesn't!"

"You aren't him. And you never will be," Bart said, suddenly quite serious. Kon looked as though Bart had punched him in the stomach with a fist full of Kryptonite. "Kon. Think about it. Would you really want to be just like him?"

Kon didn't respond, but the look on his face was easy enough to decipher. "Okay, bad question. Put it this way—I'm not going to be Wally—_and I don't want to be._ I want to be _better_. A better person and a better Flash."

Kon snorted. "Yeah, but how the hell am I supposed to top Superman?"

Bart shrugged. "Doesn't matter. It's that you want to, that you'll try, and most of all that you'll stop constantly comparing yourself to him, and then beating yourself up over every difference. 'Cause Kon? It's really screwing with your head."

Kon rolled his eyes and looked away. They were quiet for several moments more, until Kon looked up. "So when the hell did you get so smart anyway?"

"Oh, ages ago, but you weren't paying attention—too busy staring at Cassie's tits."

"Bart!" Kon choked out. "Where the hell did you—"

"Please, I read the entire sex section of the library," Bart breezed. "I probably know more than you at this point."

Kon shook his head, smiling wryly. "If you say so. And please, don't say any more."

Bart eyed him for a moment, and then darted forward.

"Hey, wha—"

"Shut up. You need a hug and you know it."

Barely a second after they both let go, Tim appeared outside the window. "Well?"

Bart looked at Kon. "He totally was just hanging out there waiting for us to stop touching."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Hey, you know it's true," Kon chipped in, grabbing Bart and hauling him out the window. "Bat's are all freaky touch-me-nots."

"I am not averse to physical contact." Tim's smirk widened into what could be considered a grin—if grins were supposed to look that frightening—"Just so long as it's painful."

"Hah! I knew you were a sadist, man!"

"That's masochist, Kon."

"Hey, it could be either."

"Except that I'm neither," Tim said dryly, keeping pace with the other two using his jumplines.

"Hey, you rhymed! I found the best collections of limericks in the library. Want to—"

"No!"

"No."

"Hmph. Fine then. Hey, where are we going, anyway?"

"Someplace fun."

"Bat fun, or people fun?" Kon asked grabbing Robin's wrist as Bart ran over the water underneath them.

"You'll find out."

"I don't like surprises," Kon grumbled.

"Yeah. But you can handle them, right?"

Kon smiled. "Yeah, I can." _So long as I've got you guys, I can handle anything._


End file.
